Chapter 44

Xie Wen snapped out of his daze, a wave of fear washing over him, followed by a surge of nausea and anger. That master was a beast in human clothing. Now, Xie Wen understood.

It seems that everything that seemed illogical and strange can now be explained.

So that's how it is!

No wonder Mei refused to admit her identity; perhaps she knew what her beastly father had done? Was she afraid that if the scandal was exposed, she would also get implicated?

Yingyue pleaded for Meishanting at the Golden Banquet, but Meilin took a liking to her and made her stay by his side, ostensibly to help him cultivate Taoism and practice swordsmanship, but in reality, it was just to better carry out his illicit affairs.

While Mei Lin was helping Mei Shanting, he may have also erased some of his memories—those memories related to Ying Yue.

Suddenly, the sky brightened in the secluded forest.

They entered the Ghost Palace Master's illusion once again.

This time, however, I was merely an observer, watching everything unfold.

On the Lantern Festival, after the grand banquet, Master Mei went to the west courtyard. Mei Shanting lay on the bed covered with thick cotton and linen quilts, barely clinging to life.

In his daze, he kept thinking, where is Yingyue? Where did Yingyue go?

Meishan Ting wanted to see her one last time.

But Yingyue wasn't there; at this moment, she was locked in another room by Merlin.

Seeing Mei Shanting's state, Merlin knew that even a god couldn't save him now; he was practically half-dead. It was already incredibly difficult for him to have held on until now, clinging to a single, unwavering belief.

However, Merlin promised Yingyue that he would save Meishanting.

She was so beautiful that even though she was sixteen, her temperament, appearance, and body were as pure and innocent as a young girl's. She was the purest white girl Merlin had ever seen.

Merlin could no longer let go, and he wanted her to willingly submit to him.

But what should be done about this sickly child?

Yes, all we need to do is find a way to make this person look lively and energetic. Legend has it that there is a puppetry technique in this world; whether living or dead, once this technique is applied, they will ultimately become living dead that can be manipulated at will.

Merlin turned Mei Shanting into a living dead, and every day, as he requested, Mei Shanting would wander around the mansion from time to time, so that everyone in the mansion would know that Mei Shanting was still alive.

But no one knew he was no longer himself. Yet Mei Shanting was never seen in the mansion; he was invisible.

Aside from Ying Yue, no one paid much attention to him. And no one noticed anything amiss with him.

Yingyue rarely saw Meishanting again afterward, because Meilin wouldn't allow it.

I've only ever caught a glimpse of him from afar.

Although Ying Yue felt strange, she couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong.

The agreed-upon deadline with Mei Lin was to completely cure Mei Shanting's illness.

Therefore, this "treatment" lasted for a year.

Beneath the pear blossom tree, Mei Shanting's remains had already rotted into dust.

Yingyue was still overjoyed, thinking that she would finally be able to pay him back.

If Meishan Ting hadn't saved her in the heavy snow back then, she wouldn't be alive today.

Yingyue couldn't distinguish what love was; she just felt she should repay his kindness.

Everyone in the manor knew that, on the surface, Mei Lin saw Ying Yue's talent for cultivation and was teaching her swordsmanship, but in reality... everyone turned a blind eye.

Everyone is an accomplice.

The final deadline arrived on that day.

Yingyue hanged herself under the pear tree.

Under this pear tree, they walked back and forth countless times, accompanying each other through spring, summer, autumn and winter, for many years.

Now, one hangs on the pear tree, and the other is buried under the pear tree; they are truly a pair, together forever.

That night, Mei Shanting's soul hung in mid-air and saw Ying Yue's corpse hanging from the pear tree. For the past year, he had been searching for Ying Yue, obsessed with why she had been so reluctant to come and see him one last time.

Therefore, the soul lingers here for a long time, unwilling to enter the cycle of reincarnation.

The spirit lingered around the corpse under the pear tree all night.

Just as dawn was about to break, a surge of ghost fire engulfed the entire Mei Manor. The ghost fire that was ignited at the birth of the Ghost Palace Master caused everyone in the Mei Manor to roar and struggle in agony amidst a sea of ​​resentment and sorrow.

No one could extinguish the fire. The will-o'-the-wisp burned for a day and a night. Not even an ant could escape from the Mei family mansion. In the end, no one survived.

Thus, in nearly a century, the world's first extremely evil and yin Ghost Lord was born.

Although Xie Wen and Chu Xianyue were in an illusion, the burning pain was just as intense when the ghost fire touched their bodies.

Unable to use magic within the illusion, Xie Wen only remembered her last sight: amidst the raging flames, Chu Xianyue tackled her, holding her tightly in his arms. He used his body to shield her from the billowing flames.

Later, the feeling of being in the sea of ​​fire for a day and a night gradually faded, but what lingered in Xie Wen's mind was the intense heat of him being held, frighteningly hot, yet his body was soft. Chu Xianyue must have used a low-level water-repelling spell. It could only temporarily isolate him from the direct burning of the fire, but it couldn't isolate him from the scalding sensation transmitted by the fire.

At that moment, Xie Wen asked Chu Xianyue in a weak voice, "Why not use the fire-avoidance spell?"

Chu Xianyue held her tightly and said, "The fire-avoidance spell is a high-level technique, and my magic power is suppressed. I can only use the water-avoidance spell."

Xie Wen was both amused and exasperated. Amidst the raging flames, she huddled in his arms. Faintly, Xie Wen could smell the stench of burning flesh filling the air.

Chu Xianyue closed his eyes, completely embracing Xie Wen without leaving a single gap. He did a good job as a human shield; Xie Wen only felt extremely hot.

As darkness fell, the fire had been burning for an unknown period of time.

When Xie Wen opened his eyes again, Chu Xianyue had wrapped his arms tightly around him, preventing Xie Wen from being affected by the fire in the slightest.

But now, the fire has subsided. This is the Mei residence more than ten years later.

Chu Xianyue quickly opened his drowsy eyes. Xie Wen then took the opportunity to hug Chu Xianyue, and while he was still asleep, he reached out and groped his back. Xie Wen really wanted to know if Chu Xianyue was currently burnt to a crisp.

His back was smooth and delicate, without a single burn scar. Xie Wen, still uneasy, touched other areas, upwards and downwards, and even wanted to touch his thighs to see if his legs were alright, and then check if there was any disfigurement on his handsome face.

As soon as Xie Wen released Chu Xianyue's embrace and was about to touch him again, he met Chu Xianyue's cold, deep eyes, who was quietly looking at Xie Wen.

Xie Wen: "Master, it's so good that you're alright! I just checked your back, and there are no injuries or scars anywhere on it. That's wonderful."

Chu Xianyue looked at him with disbelief. Xie Wen: It's true.

It was really just an inspection; I didn't mean to take advantage of the situation! Xie Wen swore. But her skin was indeed smooth and delicate, and quite pleasant to touch.

Chu Xianyue stood up calmly and said, "That illusion was a real illusion, so it naturally won't have any effect on us in reality."

It won't affect us in real life, but the pain of being burned in a sea of ​​fire is real. Chu Xianyue was once truly burned in a sea of ​​fire for a whole day and night.

The man before her had shielded her from the flames for a whole day and night.

Xie Wen suddenly felt a burning sensation in his chest.

The ruins of the Ghost Palace still evoked a chilling wind. Chu Xianyue stood beneath the void, gazing towards an unknown direction, and said, "Ghost Palace Master, we now know where your true form is hidden. Does our previous agreement still stand?"

From the depths of the overgrown weeds in the long, narrow corridor, a faint female voice seemed to drift out, "It doesn't count, it doesn't count."

Xie Wen stood up and said, "Why does it not count again?" They had gone through so much trouble to find out the truth.

Now, Xie Wen and Chu Xianyue both know that the Ghost Palace Master's true form is buried under that pear tree.

The answer was right in front of them, but they were told it was invalid? What kind of logic is that?

Xie Wen retorted, "Why? We know that your true form is under the pear tree in the west courtyard."

The Ghost Palace Master gave a curt "Oh," and said indifferently, "Now, I don't want to play games with you anymore. I want you to be buried with me."

Xie Wen: "You're planning to dissipate on your own?"

Ghost Palace Master: "No, it's just that you've discovered my secret, and I'm very unhappy about it."

Xie Wen: "Why do you always blurt out two or three words at a time?"

Ghost Palace Master: "..."

Xie Wen: "Because you are not Ying Yue at all. You are Mei Shanting, right?"

Did all that effort to imitate Ying Yue's voice give you the illusion that Ying Yue was still by your side?

Back then, the one who burned down the Mei family mansion was Mei Shanting. It could only be him, and it could only be him.

Before leaving, Ying Yue felt she had repaid Mei Shanting's debts, and that they owed each other nothing. She departed with a clear conscience and without any regrets. Mei Shanting, however, had been dead for a whole year. Yet, because he hadn't seen Ying Yue one last time before his death, he stubbornly clung to a wisp of his soul, hovering near the pear tree, just to see Ying Yue one last time and put an end to his obsession.

Unfortunately, when he finally saw Yingyue one last time, it was on the pear tree where she had hanged herself.

He couldn't accept it. His resentment and obsession amplified infinitely. He ended up in this inhuman, ghostly state, unable to go anywhere, forced to guard this haunted temple, day after day, year after year.

As for why the Ghost Palace Master only utters two or three words at a time, Mei Shanting suffered from tuberculosis before his death, and had a persistent cough for many years. His voice was already hoarse, and over the years, his throat had been ruined. If he wanted to utter a sentence without hoarseness or stuttering, he could only utter two or three words at a time.

The Ghost Palace Master laughed in his originally hoarse voice, which echoed eerily in the night sky, swinging back and forth between Xie Wen's left and right ears like a swing, as if the Ghost Palace Master was hovering right next to Xie Wen's ear.

Chu Xianyue frowned and stepped to stand beside Xie Wen. The hoarse male voice said, "You know a lot, huh? But do you know that you've been used all along?"

Xie Wen clenched her fists, her palms damp with a fine sheen of sweat. She knew that what she had been running away from would eventually have to be faced. In the past, Xie Wen had been unwilling to get involved in the conflicts of the cultivation world, even though she vaguely sensed that she had been being led by the nose by someone, she comforted herself that it was just a coincidence.

Now that the Ghost Palace Master has exposed him, Xie Wen can no longer pretend to be asleep.

The fact that the Ghost Palace Master said this means he must know something.

Xie Wen said, "What do you know? What do you want with me?"

The Ghost Palace Master said, "Of course, it's to use you to obtain the Spirit Transformation Pendant." The Spirit Transformation Pendant was a divine artifact passed down from the Mei family ancestors. It was dropped by the Heavenly Dao when the Mei family thought their ancestor had ascended to immortality.

The Ghost Palace Master continued, "That person came several times when I was in my current form, always looking for the Spirit Transformation Pendant. But each time he returned empty-handed. It's because the Spirit Transformation Pendant wasn't here to begin with. So later that person came to you all, probably hoping you could help find clues. In the end, we didn't find any clues about the Spirit Transformation Pendant, but we revealed everything about me."

"Seeing how pitiful you are, I'll tell you a little clue about the Spirit Transformation Pendant for now. Before I died, that thing took the form of Chen Huan, coming to torment me every day."

Shen Huan? Chu Xianyue remembered that Shen Huan was supposedly the daughter of a mysterious official who had been missing for many years and was found by him. But in those times, could a missing daughter be found so easily?

Chu Xianyue had once read in a book that there was a divine artifact in this world that could transform into the appearance of a person based on their projection. In fact, it was like a mirror; whatever the person reflected in it looked like, the spirit pendant would also transform into that appearance. It depicted not the outward appearance but the inner self.

Therefore, more than a decade ago, Shen Huan was actually a person created by Merlin using the Spirit Transformation Pendant, acting according to his own thoughts and desires. At that time, Merlin only wanted to use the Spirit Transformation Pendant to control Mei Shan Ting and make him work for him. Later, he discovered that Mei Shan Ting was too stubborn and disobedient, so he let him fend for himself.

The Ghost Palace Master concluded, "Actually, I didn't want to make things difficult for you. It's just that person used me as the center of a magical artifact array. Only when I perish can the array be broken."

“My obsession has been building up for over a decade, and my resentment has reached its peak. I’d like to see how you can make me let go of this obsession.”